Weapons
by LemonStar
Summary: ..Daryl/Beth.. Post S2 AU. Shane is dead. The farm hasn't fallen. And the rest of the group settles in for the incoming winter. Every time Daryl sees Beth, he thinks of how weak she is; of how even Carl can shoot a gun. His job is to keep them all safe and he knows that it's up to him to train her.
1. Stars

**S2 is my favorite and with the way the show has been going lately (way too many characters and I care about less than half of them), I really miss S2 more and more. This first chapter is a short introduction.**

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 **Chapter One.**

"Beth-"

"Leave me alone!"

She didn't mean to slap his hand away and she definitely didn't mean to yell at him after dinner when everyone was still there, picking up their plates and cleaning off the table, but she had and she now felt everyone looking at her.

She felt a flush rise up on her cheeks and she quickly turned her head away so she was unable to meet anyone's eyes though she still felt them all burning into her. She left then. Headed right for the back door and didn't stop until she was outside and once she was, she sucked in greedy gulps of the cold night air.

Finally, she could breathe again. Inside, it was too warm and too small and there were so many people all there now. Not that she really minded them. Most of them. They were nice and good people and they were keeping this farm safe but right now, everywhere she looked, there were people and she couldn't remember the last time she was able to have just a moment completely to herself.

She knew she would go back inside in a few minutes and apologize to Jimmy. It seemed like she was doing nothing but apologizing to everyone lately but for the moment, she just wanted to stay out here and listen to the quietness of the night.

Any night that was a quiet night was a good one. She still sometimes could hear the shouts and screams of the others when Dale had been torn apart in one of the fields or when Rick had come back to tell them all that Shane had died and Lori had fallen to her knees, wailing as if she had been made a widow. If things were quiet though, that meant the walkers weren't coming and no one was dying this night.

She tilted her head upwards to look at the sky above. It was as black as licorice and the stars twinkled without a single cloud hiding them. Even with the end of the world, the stars still shone.

She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Inhale and exhale. She focused on that for a few moments, blocking out the sounds of the others coming from inside. She wondered how long she would be able to stay out here without someone coming to get her. She was never allowed out of anyone's sight. If it wasn't Jimmy or Patricia, it was Maggie or her daddy and somehow, her sister had wrangled Glenn into watching her, too. No matter where she was or what she was doing, she felt eyes on her. Even coming out of the bathroom, she had run into Patricia too many times in the hallway for her to consider it a coincidence.

And it wasn't as if she could even really blame any of them. After all, the last time she was left alone, she had shattered a mirror and slashed at her wrist.

But she was sorry about that. So sorry and she had apologized for it again and again. She had made the decision though to never to do that again. To keep living. And wasn't that the only thing that really mattered? Apparently not because now, she was glass more than ever.

The screen door opened behind her and she took another deep breath, bracing herself, but when she finally turned around to see which babysitter it was this time, it wasn't at all who she was expecting. Actually, he would have been the last person she would ever expect.

Daryl Dixon didn't necessarily scare her but he did make her nervous. When he had first arrived here, he always seemed to be snarling and pacing like a lion caged in at the zoo, desperate to have its freedom back. She couldn't figure out why he had stayed when he didn't seem to have any loyalty or obligation to the rest of the group with who he had come. But she saw how he had searched for that little girl and what he had done to himself in the process. She had been the one to help her daddy when they had dragged him back, unconscious and putting him down onto the bed.

She had seen the way he had slowly placed himself closer with the group, concerning himself with the decisions that had to be made and taking responsibility for the safety of the farm and all those who lived there. She saw the way Rick looked to him more and more now when he had once looked to his wife for advice and assurance.

And though he wanted to keep them all out of harm's way, she couldn't figure out why he would be the one to come outside where she was.

But before she could ask her mouth to ask, she saw him pull a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and popping one into his mouth, he lit it as he came down the steps. She felt her body stiffen as she expected him to speak with her – to tell her to get back inside – but he didn't say anything to her. She didn't know why she was expecting him to either. Of everyone on this farm, she was the one he should concern himself with the least. She wasn't part of his group and she couldn't handle herself like the others in her family could. If a walker did get her and she died, it wouldn't matter much at all to most of them.

He stood beside her – a couple of feet between them – and he smoked his cigarette in silence so she kept herself quiet, too. She crossed her arms over her chest, hugging herself, pulling her sweater tighter around herself, and she went back to looking up at the stars. There was a time, when she was a little girl and what she wanted to be when she grew up changed every week, when she had imagined of maybe becoming an astronaut someday.

She had always wanted to touch the stars.

She almost forgot he was standing near her until he dropped his cigarette butt to the ground and stomped it out with his boot.

"Should get inside," he said in his gruff tone and she turned her head to look at him. He had never addressed her directly. Why would he? "You're shiverin'."

She shrugged even though she _was_ cold. She just knew that inside the house, it was way too hot right now and she'd rather be feeling freezing than claustrophobic.

He turned his head then and looked at her and she noticed for the first time that he had his crossbow strapped to his back. He never went anywhere without it and she suddenly had an image of him snuggling up to it at night as he slept like a teddy bear. She almost giggled but was able to compose herself before she could.

He didn't scare her – not anymore – but he _did_ make her nervous and she didn't want him to think that she was laughing at him.

"I'm alright," she said even though they both knew she was lying because just as she said that, another shiver, a rather violent one, tore through her body. "I just needed to breathe." She slowly moved her eyes from him and tilted her head back up towards the sky. "I can't really breathe in there sometimes," she then said so quietly, she didn't think he had heard her.

But then after moment, she heard him speak. "Yeah," he agreed, his voice quiet like hers, and she looked back to him but he was looking up at the stars above them now, too, and wasn't looking at her or even acknowledging that he had said anything at all.

So she didn't say anything else either and she found herself standing next to Daryl Dixon, staring up at the stars until the door opened again and Maggie told her to get back inside.

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 **Thank you so much for reading and please review!  
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	2. Yarn

**I am going to be practicing my Beth POV writing and will have this story alternate between Daryl and Beth with each chapter. The next one will be from Beth's.**

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 **Chapter Two.** Yarn.

There was a time not that long ago where most of these people would hurry to the other side of the road if they saw him coming their way and now, when Daryl walked into the kitchen in the morning, they all looked to him, waiting to see if he had anything to say because suddenly, anything he had to say was important.

Daryl didn't say anything though. Hardly looked at any of them. He went to the counter where there were bowls of cereal laid out – Frosted Flakes and fresh milk from the cows in the barn – and Carol handed him a spoon and still without saying anything, he headed back outside, sitting himself down on the top step of the porch. He barely said ten sentences a day and he sure as hell didn't say them in the mornings. T-Dog and Glenn were morning people in an annoying way and were already talking too much to give Daryl a headache.

He ate his cereal and looked at the farm that laid quiet and undisturbed. A cold breeze was blowing that morning just serving as another reminder that winter was definitely coming and with it, they would have their share of problems. There were fences already but there needed to be more of them – especially nearer to that creek in the woods. He'd talk to Rick about that. Rick seemed to be listening to him more and more; more than anyone and it wasn't as if Daryl was glad Shane was dead. More times than not, they agreed on things. But with him gone, Rick was listening to him and Daryl wasn't going to lie to himself. It felt good to feel important.

He didn't sleep inside with the rest of them. He probably would when it got to be the coldest nights but for now, he was sleeping out on the porch even if he wasn't on night watch. The youngest Greene had read his mind. Sometimes, it was just too damn hard to breathe in there with so many people. The house wasn't small by any means but it sure as hell felt like the size of a shoebox with so many people living on top of each other.

He thought of the girl now. How young and small she was. In ways, she seemed younger than Carl and he knew the reason for that. Carl was already getting used to this world. He could aim and fire a gun but that girl in there, she flinched any time a gun went off. When Shane and T-Dog had given firing practice, he remembered Shane reporting back to Rick about it and overhearing him say that about her. Hell, the girl didn't even know about walkers until just a month before when her dead mama and brother poured out of that barn with the others and he had been the one to shoot her mama in the head. Her entire world came crashing down in a single afternoon.

She still wore the white bandage wrapped around her wrist even though it had been a couple of week since she had made a cut at it and he didn't think she'd need that anymore but he wasn't a doctor like her old man so it wasn't like he knew anything about it. The only knowledge he had was from giving himself medical attention with his own cuts.

The first time he had ever talked with her had been that night when she had slapped her little boyfriend's hand away and hurried outside to get away from them all. Daryl had never talked to her before that night but he could imagine what she was feeling. He was observant towards everyone on that farm and he saw the way her family was always watching her. She now lived under their microscope and he was surprised she was able to take a piss without them making her leave the door open.

He didn't blame them – not exactly. After what she had tried to do, he could see why her family worried about her. Girl was lucky to have a family who cared about her so much. But he knew that they weren't really doing anything except driving her crazy and if Shane had showed them anything, it was that going crazy was a dangerous thing – especially now.

He heard another door open and footsteps came onto the porch and he lifted his head to see who it was. He wasn't really that surprised to see that it was her. Beth. He had never said her name before. Had never had a reason to. Had never even really thought it before. But that didn't mean he didn't know it. And he watched now as Beth came out of the front door and she stood there on the top step for a moment, taking slow, deep breaths. She didn't look towards him and she didn't seem to even be aware that he was sitting just a few feet away at the side door.

Daryl couldn't help but frown to himself over that. Girl needed to be a hell of a lot more observant if she was going to make it.

With one more deep breath, Beth stepped off the porch and headed towards the horse barn and he watched her go. A second later, the door opened again and it was that kid, Jimmy. His eyes fell on Beth walking away and he didn't hesitate in taking off after her. Daryl would have said something to get the kid to leave her alone but it wasn't any of his business. They were just kids having a lover's spat or whatever they called it. But he couldn't stop himself from watching and he couldn't hear but he saw the way Beth turned on him and started yelling something, her hands knocking his away when he tried to touch her and whatever Jimmy was saying, it just seemed to make her angrier.

Absolutely none of his business.

He finished the cereal and drained the milk from the bowl before standing up and heading back into the kitchen. Rick was down there now, speaking with Hershel about something, and when he saw Daryl, he jerked his head to the side, signaling for Daryl to come over.

"Daryl and me can handle it," Rick was saying. "Maybe Glenn. He's been on enough runs." Rick then looked to Daryl as he came to stand with them. "Hershel says there's a few farm houses around here that might still have plenty of supplies stocked up."

"Those who lived there…" Hershel trailed off and visibly swallowed. "They were in the barn," he said, almost reluctantly.

Rick nodded and looked to Daryl. "It's definitely worth checking out."

Daryl nodded in agreement, seeing no reason to argue. Hershel was a well-prepared man with a well-stocked farm but with so many people here, they would need more and they had to get it while they still could. He was already thinking of the baby and everything that kid would need. Rick had told them all that Lori was pregnant and the baby would be here in the spring. Hershel would be performing the delivery and he didn't seem nervous about it at all, telling Lori that he had brought his fair share of calves into this world, and she had laughed at that though she was obviously still nervous.

"Maggie and Bethy will both be helping me," Hershel had said as he patted her hand. "Those two have helped me enough times with the animals."

It was easy to imagine Maggie helping with an animal birth but Daryl couldn't picture Beth getting her hands dirty.

"When you wanna head out?" Daryl asked, finally speaking, looking to Rick.

"The sooner, the better," Rick said. "You'll tell us where to go?" He looked to Hershel.

"I'll get you a map," Hershel said.

"Alright," Rick spoke louder, gaining the attention of everyone in the kitchen and adjacent dining room. "Daryl, me and Glenn are going on a run this morning. T-Dog and Andrea, you're in charge of keeping everyone else here. You can finish fortifying the windows and helping Hershel with supplies in the basement. Patricia has some canning to do, too."

"You want us on patrol?" Andrea asked.

"Not now. Wait until Daryl gets back so he can go with you. The fences need to be checked."

As everyone finished their breakfasts and began helping with cleaning up, Daryl went to the corner of the kitchen where he kept his meager amount of possessions.

"Do you have to go?" He heard Maggie ask Glenn in a soft voice and Daryl nearly snorted.

Those two had just met each other a couple of months ago and were already attached at the hip. Daryl knew it was the end of the world but damn. It was like they couldn't breathe without the other being right there. It was actually kind of disgusting in Daryl's opinion.

"Rick and Daryl need me," Glenn said softly in return.

"Rick and Daryl are the two most capable people on this farm," Maggie pointed out.

"Are you saying I'm incapable?" Glenn teased and she laughed.

"You're very capable where it counts," Maggie teased back and Daryl's face screwed up in disgust at that as he continued loading his crossbow with the few extra bolts he had left.

He needed to find more. He only had so many arrows but maybe these farmhouses would provide something to him. He wasn't the only guy in the state of Georgia who had hunted with a crossbow and people, in their panic, had grabbed bullets and guns first. Most didn't think of grabbing the crossbow. Most didn't even know how to work one.

Making sure he had his knife hooked to his belt, he swung his crossbow onto his shoulder and headed outside again. Rick was already standing at the pickup truck, checking the air in the tires and the gas in the tank, and Carl was with him, pleading with him to let him go.

Daryl's eyes scanned across the land as they always did when he was outside but still, everything was quiet. It almost made him nervous – how isolated the farm seemed to be. This place almost seemed too good to be true and nothing good lasted anymore. Hell, nothing good lasted even before the world ended.

"'m thinkin' we need to build more fences," Daryl said, turning his head to look at Rick.

"Yeah?" The man asked.

Daryl nodded his head once. "Make the ones we already got stronger and add to 'em."

Rick nodded, too. "I've been thinking the same thing. This farm needs to be a fortress."

"Dad, please," Carl went back to begging and Rick's attention was on him once more.

Daryl saw a figure step from the barn and it was Beth, walking back towards the house. There was a basket in her hand and he figured she must have gone to collect fresh eggs. Jimmy was nowhere to be seen and not that Daryl really cared but he wondered where the kid was. It was obvious to all of them that she wasn't interested in him anymore and Daryl wondered when he would finally take the hint and leave her the hell alone.

As she got closer, Daryl couldn't help but frown. Damn girl didn't even have a damn weapon of any kind on her. He knew the farm seemed pretty safe but still, she had to be prepared. What if a walker had gotten through like the one who had gotten to Dale?

He was scowling by the time she got near to them.

"Hi, Beth," Rick greeted kindly.

"Hi," she said quietly, almost shyly, giving him a soft smile but when she looked to Daryl and saw the way he was frowning, it disappeared from her face. She was quick to look away from him and back to Rick. "Are you going somewhere?" She asked, trying to make polite conversation. Girl was probably raised to do nothing else.

"Your dad told us about a few houses around here that might have supplies. We're going to head over and check it out," he said and Beth nodded.

She tightened both hands around the handle of the basket hanging in front of her.

"Be careful," she then said in a quiet voice and walked past them towards the porch. On the second step though, she stopped and turned back towards them. "If you go to the Walter farm, Mrs. Walter was always knitting. She had baskets of yarn. If you're able to bring those back along with her needles, I can knit us scarves and hats for winter coming."

Rick smiled. "That'd be great, Beth."

She didn't say anything before turning around once more, heading into the house.

Daryl looked after her for a moment. It seemed stupid – knitting – but he supposed it was good if it could get them warm stuff for the winter; if she was actually able to make those things. Unfortunately, it was obvious that Beth was nothing like her older sister and knitting just might be the only thing the girl could do that would be considered useful.

…

Hershel's map was easy enough to follow and Rick, Daryl and T-Dog found all of the houses easily. Daryl had almost snorted when Glenn said that he would like to stay behind and T-Dog had volunteered to take his place instead. The guy was already pussy-whipped to the extreme but Daryl kept that comment to himself.

Hershel had been right. The farmhouses were pretty stocked and it seemed as if the owners had turned pretty early, winding up in Hershel's barn before much of their supplies could be used. They spent the day loading up the bed of pickup truck and the back of the other car they had brought with them with anything that might be considered useful.

Daryl had been the one to find the yarn.

They had been in one of the houses and T-Dog and Rick were in one of the bedrooms, stripping the bed of the blankets and raiding the closets, and Daryl had cautiously opened the closed door to a room at the end of the hallway. It was a tiny room with a rocking chair and a couple of bookshelves and a record player. There was a Rubbermaid container in the corner and Daryl approached it, knocking the lid off. Inside, it was filled to the brim with yarn and a couple pairs of needles and he wondered how much Beth would be able to kit with all of this. He still didn't know if he really believed that the girl could knit anything but if she said she'd could, he'd take all of this to her.

He swung his crossbow onto his shoulder and then lifted the container, which was a bit heavier than he had been expecting it to be since it was filled with nothing but yarn. On his way out the door, a framed picture on one of the shelves stopped him and he couldn't help but step towards it to get a closer look. It was a picture of two girls in formal dresses, probably going to a school dance. One girl had black hair and was wearing a black dress to match. The other girl was Beth, her hair in some fancy twist and her dress dark green and the biggest, brightest smile across her face.

He had never seen her smile like that in all of their time on the farm. Not that there was much to smile about anymore.

He wondered if she would want this picture. And no sooner did he wonder that that he was knocking the picture into the container and leaving the room. He had no idea why he cared whether she wanted it or not or even why he had been searching every one of these houses for stupid yarn and needles. The only explanation he could think of was Rick was looking to him more and more and Daryl was helping him take care of all of these people on the farm. And Beth was one of those people on the farm. She was one of his responsibilities.

"Find anything?" Rick asked as they all met in the hallway again.

"That yarn Beth was tellin' us 'bout," Daryl said and Rick nodded.

"The sun's getting lower and I don't want to be here when it's dark. We'll head back now and hit up the rest of the houses tomorrow," Rick said and Daryl and T-Dog didn't argue.

Rick and T-Dog drove the car and Daryl drove the pick-up truck, following him down the road back to the farm. He saw a few rambling walkers, stumbling down the road or through the fields of overgrown wheat and grass and Daryl kept a sharp lookout for more. It made him nervous – not seeing more. The Greene farm was pretty isolated and quiet but he didn't know if it could stay like forever. Eventually, someone or something would stumble upon it and then what would they do? Daryl already knew the answer and he knew what Rick would expect them all to do.

When they pulled back in front of the house, everyone came out to welcome them back and help carry their loot back inside. Carol and Patricia were in the middle of making them dinner and stayed in the kitchen and Daryl could smell the scents wafting outside, making his stomach grumble. The last thing he had eaten that day was the bowl of Frosted Flakes hours earlier and he was starving.

He saw Beth standing at the bed of the pickup truck, folding blankets that had been tossed in carelessly so it would be easier to carry inside and Daryl didn't know why the hell he felt as if maybe he was nervous walking up to her but his stomach was doing some sort of weird flipping thing as he approached her. She lifted her eyes and looked at him. He was a quiet guy – always had been – but Beth being quiet unnerved him a little. He didn't know the first thing about her, had barely exchanged words with her, but there was something about Beth. He remembered the girl in the picture he saw. This girl wasn't the type of be quiet and he wondered if anyone else found it to be as unsettling as he did.

"Gotcha that yarn you asked for," he said in his gruff voice and she jumped slightly, obviously in surprise that he had spoken to her.

He ignored her reaction and reached into the bed, pulling the container to the edge.

Beth opened one corner of the lid and peeked in. She then looked to Daryl and gave him a small smile. "Thank you," she said softly. "I'll start right away."

"Gotcha somethin' else," he said and she looked at him curiously.

He reached into a nearby gym bag and dug around for a moment before pulling out a small hunting knife in a brown leather sheath. He had found it at the first house they had stopped at that day and the second he found it, he thought of her. The girl needed a weapon and the knife was the perfect size for someone with small hands like hers.

"Can't be walkin' anywhere on this farm without this," he said, thrusting it out towards her for her to take. "Can't be stupid anymore."

Beth slowly took it from his hand and she didn't say anything as she looked down at it for a moment. She then pulled it from the sheath so she could look at the blade. It only made him frown though. She was looking at it as if she had never seen a knife before let alone held one. There was no way this girl would ever survive if they had to run away from her. She'd be dead as soon as she saw her first walker.

She slid the knife back into the sheath and he watched as she hooked it around one of the belt loops of her jeans so it rested against her thigh.

"Thank you," she said in that same soft voice of hers.

"I'll show you how to use it," the words left his mouth before he even realized it or could stop them and her eyes snapped to him, slightly wide with surprise.

He just stared at her though. She was obviously waiting for him to take them back but that wasn't going to happen. He hadn't been expecting him to say that to her but he wasn't going to pretend that he didn't. This girl was damn defenseless and it was his job now to keep them all safe. He imagined how torn up her family would be if anything happened to her and grief made people do stupid things.

None of them could afford to be stupid.

Keeping this girl alive meant that they would all stay alive.

"What's your favorite color?" Beth then asked and it was his turn to stare at her in complete confusion because what the hell kind of question was that?

But he heard himself answering anyway. "Green," he grunted. He actually didn't know if he had a favorite color though.

Beth nodded her head and her eyes finally fell away from his. Her hands curled around the handles of the container and was about to pull it off the bed but Daryl stopped her before she could. He knocked her hands away and she took a step back as he hoisted the container up himself. It was heavy and Beth looked like a too-strong breeze could knock her over.

She didn't say anything as he carried it up the steps and into the house but he knew she was following after him. He figured her bedroom was upstairs and that she would want it up there but he wasn't going to carry it there. He didn't want to go upstairs at all. Hershel might have opened his home up to all of them but that didn't mean that he would ever feel as if he actually belonged here. And the second floor was off bounds in his opinion – at least to someone like him.

He set it down at the bottom of the stairs. Someone else could take it up for her. Maybe her boyfriend could actually be useful to her instead of just babysitting her.

"Thank you, Daryl," Beth said.

He looked at her. It was the first time she had ever said his name and for some reason, he hadn't even imagined her to know it. It was stupid, he knew. Of course she knew his name. There were only so many people around anymore and they had been here for a while and they were all living on top of one another now.

That last thought made the tips of his ears turn red and he mentally kicked his ass. This girl was exactly that. A _girl_. No older than seventeen and it didn't matter if the world was gone and even if it wasn't, sixteen was considered the legal age. He wasn't going to look at this girl and think of her as anything but that. Beth Greene was nothing more than a girl. He was a sick pervert to even be looking at her.

Besides, if he _ever_ thought of a woman – which was rare to happen even before – she wouldn't be the kind he would think of. Too skinny and small and so weak, it made him angry when he thought about it. He looked to the bandage on her wrist. So fucking weak. Old man used him as whipping post for years but he never thought of opting out. Girl's mama had died. Big deal. Everyone's mama died nowadays.

Feeling his anger grow – more directed towards himself for his earlier thoughts than her – Daryl's face twisted in a frown and without looking at her or saying another word, he turned and headed back outside.

Damn near impossible to breathe in that damn house.

…

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 **Thank you very much for reading and please review!**


	3. Knife

**Near the end of S2, Daryl was still a bit angry. He really came into his own during that long winter after the fall of the farm but still the farm doesn't fall in this story, we get to see him become the S3 Daryl we know. Beth is going to be overcoming her depression through these chapters.**

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 **Chapter Three.** Knife.

Within just a couple of weeks, it seemed like everyone was wearing something made out of colorful strings of yarn. Hats or scarves or mittens and in Lori and Carol's case, all three.

Daryl had woken up one morning to see that there was a green scarf on his bag in the kitchen. He had stared at it for a moment as if he didn't understand where it had come from and he had picked it up gingerly like a chicken's egg. It was soft and thick and each day, it was getting colder and colder and it would definitely come in handy and yet, he put it in his bag instead, not wanting to wear it. It was fine for everyone else to wear what Beth had made them and keep themselves warm but he could just imagine everyone's looks to him if _he_ was to wear something that she had made. He already was making sure he never looked at her because he was certain that if he did, everyone would think he was some pervert.

Man his age looking at a seventeen year old girl, he knew what they already all thought of him even if they were looking at him to keep them all safe. That didn't change that he was nothing better than some stupid redneck who kept looking at the youngest girl on the farm.

So his neck would be cold. It didn't bother him. It wasn't his first winter he would be cold.

He knew he had to keep Beth safe. All of them safe but especially Beth. He knew she didn't think it but if she was to go, the rest of them would go. That was just the truth. She was the most important thing to her old man and her older sister and if Beth was to die, it would all go toppling down after that like dominoes. Keeping Beth safe and alive was the smartest thing any of them could do.

He still couldn't look at her – which made keeping her safe a challenge. He didn't want to put himself around her too often because that would make people look, too, and hell. It wasn't as if _he_ wanted to be around her. Most of the time, he just felt himself getting angry whenever he was. Looking at her pale skin and blonde hair the color of sunshine and that damn bandage around her wrist. Girl wasn't built for this world. That was for damn sure.

He considered talking to Rick about her. No one would bat an eye if Rick or T-Dog or Glenn stayed close to her and looked out for her. He wasn't going to ask Jimmy to do it. He was observant around everyone and saw things that most people probably didn't but it didn't seem to be a secret that Beth was avoiding Jimmy – as much as a girl could avoid her little boyfriend while they were all living together. But the kid was an idiot and never seemed to take the hint. He liked to suffocate her until she physically had to push him away from her.

Patricia was like that, too. Wherever Beth found herself, it was expected that either Jimmy or Patricia weren't far behind. They weren't letting the girl breathe. Hershel and Maggie would watch her with hawk-like eyes but they at least gave her a little bit of room, knowing she needed it. Daryl was surprised Beth hadn't exploded more times than she had at them all and he was surprised he didn't find her outside for some fresh air more than he did.

He sat outside of the barn, witling at a stick with his knife, working on making himself some more arrows. Inside, he heard the horses neigh and stomp their hooves on the wooden floor as they munched on their hay. He preferred to be out here when he was able to have time to himself. It was quiet and people weren't constantly depending on him for something. He liked Carol but she would look at him sometimes, looking so damn sad, and he didn't know what to do about it. Rick would look to him when he made a decision, as if he was looking to see if Daryl agreed with him.

It was all too much responsibility and Daryl was stepping up to it but sometimes, he just wanted to be by himself.

He had been in the kitchen that morning, returning his plate after eating the scrambled eggs that Patricia had made for everyone and had witnessed Lori and Rick there. Lori was talking with him softly – or at least trying to talk with him – but Rick was acting as if she wasn't even there. He was checking on the bullets in his gun and looking out the window over the sink, making himself completely unaware to his wife beside him.

Daryl quickly ducked his head, making himself small and invisible just like he had done for his whole life, and left the kitchen, not wanting anyone to notice him.

It wasn't anyone else's business about what happened between Rick and Lori though they already knew everything. Lori and Shane thinking Rick was dead and turning to one another for comfort. Shane becoming obsessed with Lori, trying to kill Rick, Rick killing him in return, Lori crying in anguish when Rick told them all what he had done, Lori mourning for the man as if she had been in love with him, too.

And now she was pregnant with a baby and they would never know who the father was.

Daryl understood Rick's anger towards Lori but at the same time, Daryl couldn't help but feel sorry for her. It was obvious she was trying to make amends but it was obvious that Rick just didn't care about that and as if they were divorced parents, Carl was starting to take sides and even though he didn't know the whole story, the boy began to inch towards his dad and furthering himself from his mom, adding to Lori's sadness.

So much damn sadness in that house.

He was glad the farm was big enough for them to spread out and get out of each other's hair for a while.

Daryl finished the stick and held it up, checking to see if the point was sharp enough. When it passed his inspection, he set it aside and picked up another stick to start work on the next. As T-Dog said, he only had so many arrows and though Daryl had no problem firing a gun, he didn't really want to. He preferred his bow. It was quiet and his bow kept them fed. What they really only had so many of was bullets and they couldn't waste precious ammunition taking down walkers. Gun shots were too loud and dangerous and walkers weren't the only ones they had to keep themselves quiet from.

The chicken coop was beside the barn and he heard the door open, someone stepping inside, the chickens clucking away at the person's arrival. He paused his knife, trying to hear who it was, but the person was quiet and after a moment, he began sharping the stick once more.

" _I dreamed a dream in times gone by."_

Daryl instantly stopped once he heard the person in the chicken coop begin to sing. And he had never heard her sing before but he knew it was her. Beth. He sat and listened to the song. He didn't know the song; had never heard it before but he listened to the way she sang it. He had never heard a nicer sounding voice than hers.

" _When hope was high and life worth living._

 _I dreamed that love would never die._

 _I dreamed that God would be forgiving._

 _Then I was young and unafraid._

 _And dream were made and used and wasted._

 _There was no ransom to be paid._

 _No song unsung; no wine untasted."_

Daryl hadn't even realized that he had gotten to his feet until he was standing on the other side of the coop, looking at her through the chicken wire. She didn't see him as she continued sifting through the straw, hunting for eggs and singing her song. She was wearing a jean jacket that didn't seem like it would be warm enough and a yellow knit hat on her head, pulled down over her ears.

He frowned. She wasn't paying attention. She was never paying attention. His eyes scanned up and down her form even as he told himself to stop looking at her.

"Where the hell is your knife?" He all but growled, his voice rough and sudden, and Beth jumped in surprise, spinning towards him, almost dropping the egg she held in her hand.

When she saw that it was him, she visibly swallowed and shook her head slightly. "I'm… it was decided that I shouldn't have it."

Daryl took a step closer to the coop, his frown deepening. "Who the hell decided that?"

Beth turned her head so she wasn't looking at him any longer. She collected a few more eggs and then left the coop, closing the door and latching it shut behind her. She clutched the basket in her hands as she came around the coop to stand before him. She lifted her hand to brush a strand of hair out of her face and he saw that that white bandage was no longer wrapped around her wrist. In its place, she now wore a collection of bracelets.

"Patricia didn't think it was smart that I carry a knife around," she said.

Daryl let out some sort of growl as he went, grabbing his crossbow and swinging it onto his shoulder, before turning and stalking off towards the house. He heard Beth behind him, hurrying to keep up, but he didn't care enough that she was following him to slow his steps down. He was too angry to slow down.

Climbing the steps, he stormed in through the front door. Others were in there, trying to keep themselves warm from the dropping temperature outside as it got later in the day. Maggie, Glenn, Jimmy and T-Dog were all playing cards, trying to pass the afternoon by. Andrea stood at the large window, keeping watch, and Carol was on the couch, doing some mending. Daryl's eyes scanned over them all and then with a flex in his jaw, he stalked his way to the kitchen. Patricia and Lori were both in there and he stopped in the doorway.

"What the hell do you think you're doin'?" He demanded.

The two women had been talking and smiling about something as they stood at the stove but now that he had appeared, they turned to look at him, surprised and confused.

"What happened?" Lori asked, worry taking over her features immediately, thinking that he must be talking about her husband or son.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Beth step past him and she went to go set the egg basket down on the table. He kept his attention on Patricia though.

"You can't go havin' her fetch eggs if she's got no protection on her," Daryl said and he could feel his heart pounding quickly in his chest. "What she gonna do if a walker stumbled 'round here? Sing it a damn song?"

Patricia's spine straightened as she returned his stare. "Do you really think giving Beth a _knife_ of all things is the smart thing to do?"

"In case you forgot, we got bigger things to worry 'bout. We plannin' on keepin' all sharp objects away from her forever?" Daryl asked and he could hear shuffling behind him, alerting to him that the others were starting to come to listen in on the argument – though in his opinion, there wasn't much of one. Beth needed a weapon. End of discussion.

"Beth, are you alright?" Jimmy pushed his way into the kitchen and went right for her.

Beth visibly winced though when he got too close and she took a few steps away, holding a hand out to stop him from getting closer. Daryl looked at them with a frown. He couldn't believe that a kid could be that stupid. Wasn't Beth making it obvious to him?

He looked back to Patricia.

"I'm saying that Beth is safe walking from the house to the chicken coop," Patricia said, remaining calm though Daryl could see the steel in her eyes. "We always have people patrolling this farm. If a walker got through, it would have been seen."

Daryl almost shook his head at how stupid this woman was being. "That what you think? That we're safe? We ain't safe anywhere and we can't get lazy or stupid. Beth needs to be able to protect herself just like we all can. She ain't gonna be dead weight."

" _You_ don't have to worry yourself with her," Patricia said, crossing her arms over her chest. "We are all perfectly capable of looking out for her."

Daryl stared at her and he wondered if he was just imagining what she was getting at but he knew he wasn't. There was no way he was so stupid where he wouldn't be able to figure out what she was telling him. And Daryl instantly felt like an idiot for confronting her. He could now feel everyone's eyes on him, probably all wondering the same thing.

Why _did_ he care so much? He was to keep the farm and them safe but he shouldn't have been putting all of his focus on some teenaged girl unless there was some other reason for his actions. They probably all thought that he had a thing for little girls now, making such a big deal about Beth being able to stay safe.

His fingers tightened around the strap of his crossbow until his knuckles turned white. Just a few weeks ago, he would have stormed out of here with a "Fuck you" thrown over his shoulder. And he was still planning on doing all of that but some things had changed. He had become someone of importance to Rick and to all of their survival. When it came to surviving, they didn't doubt him. Just when it came to giving a shit about someone other than himself did they pause. And why the hell did he give a shit about Beth? Who was she? Just Hershel's youngest and weak-ass daughter. Important to Hershel and Maggie but sure as hell not important to him. He didn't even know her for her to be anything.

If Patricia thought everyone but him could keep her safe, fine.

He looked to Beth, who was watching him intently, clearly waiting to see what he would do or say to Patricia's last comment. He could help but wonder what she was thinking. He almost growled at himself. He didn't care. Why did he have to keep reminding himself that?

"Looks like they'll be buryin' you after all," he said.

He went and grabbed his bag from the corner and without another work or look to any of them, he pushed his way through the back screen door.

He saw Hershel, Rick and Carl all at the generator but Daryl walked past them without stopping, even when Rick called his name.

"Hey!" Rick caught up to him easily. "Where are you going?" He asked, looking at the bag over his shoulder.

"Sleepin' in the barn from now on," Daryl said, not stopping his stride. "Too many damn people in that house and I don' need to be 'round 'em all the time."

"You can't sleep in the barn. It's getting too cold," Rick shook his head.

"Gotta blanket and hay's in there. Don't need more than that," Daryl wasn't going to be convinced otherwise on this.

They all looked to him as some dirty hick until it came for their asses to be saved. Then they all looked at him as their savior. He wasn't going to be putting himself around them more than he had to be.

Rick looked over their shoulders back to the house and then looked to Daryl once more.

"What happened?" He asked.

Daryl almost didn't tell him but he figured someone would tell him anyway. Might as well tell the man his side of things before someone else could tell him.

"Gave Beth a knife. Patricia took it away. Said they could keep Beth safe without her havin' it. Think we'll be diggin' a hole for that girl 'fore the winter's done."

Rick sighed heavily. "I'll talk with Hershel."

Daryl shrugged. "Don't really care anymore about it one way or another."

And without another word or look to Rick, Daryl climbed the ladder up to the hayloft. Tossing his bag and crossbow to the side, he then laid down in the piles of hay and closed his eyes. He could smell the horses from below, hear their hooves on the wooden floorboards. He tightened his coat around himself. It was a little cold out here but at least it was quiet and he could breathe. Like he told Rick, he had a blanket and the hay and stuffed in his bag, he still had the scarf Beth made him. Maybe he'd wear it out here at night when no one could see him wear it.

He'd make sure he wouldn't be going to into the house again.

…

Daryl hadn't been in the house for two days and she definitely was keeping count. He was even taking his meals outside, Carol taking food out to him and him eating on the porch. Rick started to join him and Beth would watch through the window as the two talked about important things to him; things she would never know about.

Anytime Patricia was near, Beth couldn't help but glare at her. She didn't care if it was immature. Patricia had been out of line with the things she had said to Daryl and now, Daryl had banished himself; a self-imposed banishment that no one seemed to argue about. It made her furious. They all expected Daryl to keep them safe but they didn't care whether he was in the warmth of the house with them. He was taking his meals outside like a servant; like he wasn't good enough to eat with them.

Beth began eating upstairs in her bedroom just so she could get away from them all. She wanted to go outside and speak with Daryl but about what, she had absolutely no idea so she stayed inside and stayed away from him. She knew he probably wanted it that way.

She was keeping herself occupied with knitting. She was knitting at all hours and it seemed to be the only thing she did but she felt useful – especially when she saw the others wearing what she had made them. She had smiled for the entire day when she saw T-Dog wearing the red hat she had made for him and he had told her again and again how warm it was.

She was already wondering what she would do once she knitted everything she could. What else could she do that would show her pulling her weight around here?

She wished she still had her knife and that Daryl was able to teach her how to use it like he said he would. She wanted to learn but apparently, it didn't really matter what she wanted. Patricia had ignored her when she had taken the knife from her the instant she saw it looped on Beth's belt and when Beth had looked to Maggie for help, her sister seemed hesitant and she seemed almost ashamed to be agreeing with Patricia against Beth but she did. Even her daddy seemed hesitant to let her have a knife.

As if they were all worried that the instant she was anywhere by herself, she'd take that knife to her wrist immediately.

" _Looks like they'll be buryin' you after all."_

His words were still echoing in her mind. They never stopped and each time they rose up in her mind, Beth felt a rush of tears sting her eyes before she managed to blink them away again before any of them could fall. She refused to cry anymore no matter how true she thought Daryl's words were true.

She was going to die. Probably soon, too, because no one trusted her and because no one trusted her, no one thought that she was capable of keeping herself safe.

There was only one person who thought that maybe she was capable – or thought she could learn how to be – but he hadn't been in the house two days and Beth just kept herself in her bedroom. With the door open. She wasn't allowed to close it anymore.

…

* * *

 **Thank you very much for reading and if you read, please comment!**


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